Pitfalls to Avoid After CNA Training

CNA Training

Working as a CNA can be one of the toughest jobs you will ever have. The life of a CNA is full of rules, skills, and wisdom that are necessary in order to ensure your patients are safe and you are able to maintain your CNA training certification. In order to ensure all of this, you have to pay attention during CNA training and take the knowledge and skills you learn and apply them to your work.

Want to make sure you don’t get in trouble and your patients are provided with the best care possible? Follow these simple rules you learned in CNA training.

Rules From CNA Training to Ensure You and Your Patients are Safe

Turning- The first rule you should always remember when working in a nursing home after CNA training is to pay attention to your patient’s care plan. If their care plan says they must be turned every two hours, make sure this is done. During CNA training, you will learn this is extremely important to avoiding pressure sores. Even though it may be difficult to turn a bedridden patient, don’t ignore this task or do a sloppy job at it. You can not only lose your job for avoiding this task, but can seriously hurt your patient.

Lifting- After CNA training, you will most likely have a few patients in your nursing home you need to get in and out of bed using a lift. If the patient’s care plan states that two CNAs must be present before a life is used to help them get in or out of bed, pay attention to it! Find someone to help you, and be willing to help other CNAs when they need it. This will keep both your patients and your job safe.

Shhhh- One of the most important rules to remember after you finish CNA training is to always maintain your patients’ privacy. Don’t talk about your patients at all when you are outside the workplace, and only discuss patient information inside the workplace with those who need to know it. Your patient’s personal and medical information isn’t gossip. You could end up in jail, be fired from your job, or compromise your patients’ safety if you divulge confidential information.

Don’t Eat- After CNA training, you might work with a few patients that will spend the first ten minutes of every meal insisting you try their food. While this may seem sweet, don’t do it. Their food is their food, and no matter how much your stomach is growling or how far away your break is, you should never eat off their tray. You not only put your patients at risk by spreading germs, but you put your job at risk as well.

Keep it Real- Don’t make up numbers when it comes to your patients’ vital signs, input, or output. Keep it real. Patients can actually die if you don’t write down the correct numbers and let your charge nurse know what is happening. Prevent tragedy after CNA training by always being honest in their charts.

Pay Attention After CNA Training

If you want to keep your license, stay out of jail, and ensure your patients’ health and safety, make sure you do everything you can to follow these rules after CNA training.